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February 3, 2014

C2, Lake Valencia, migration, winter home

Comments Off on Counting the Days

When you do not hear from me for a long time that usually means that all is well and that Coley II (C2) is not getting into any trouble. No news IS good news!C2 is waiting out his last few weeks in Venezuela on Lake Valencia, confining his activity to the southwest corner of the lake. His movements are predictable, and he appears to be getting lots of food without having to travel far. Essentially, he eats, he sleeps, he rests, he sleeps, and then in a day or so he heads out to catch another fish to start the cycle over again.

In three to four weeks he will launch into the air and begin his 2,750-mile flight home. This will be the first spring migration data for C2 so we do not know when he will take off. I suspect he will take about 18 days to cover the distance from Lake Valencia to Jamaica Bay, and that he will return to Jamaica Bay on or near the Ides of March or March 15th. So if that is the case, he should depart for home on or near February 25th.

Would love to hear your predictions on the following:

1) When will C2 start to head home? Or perhaps, when will he arrive back home in Jamaica Bay?

2) How long will it take him to make the journey?

Yesterday morning, Punxsutawney Phil the Groundhog emerged from his burrow in Pennsylvania and saw his shadow, forecasting six more weeks of winter.

I think you will find that C2 is more reliable than Punxsutawney Phil in predicting when Spring will arrive. Each year the Ospreys return to their summer homes to start the nesting season just as conditions are good enough for them to survive, i.e., when fish are starting to move into local waters and accessible for the Ospreys to catch.

I will be monitoring C2’s movements closely over the next few weeks and will let you know the moment I know that he is heading home. Meanwhile, think of him getting ready for one of the most amazing phenomenon in nature Migration!

I am embedding a Google Map below of his activities from January 15th to February 2nd, which shows a data point about 185 miles southwest of his winter home on Lake Valencia. C2 did not make this flight. Rather, it is an incorrect satellite data point that sometimes creeps into the equation of C2’s movements. Wish that C2 could do a 370-mile round trip flight in two hours!

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have about Ospreys and particularly about C2 and the other Ospreys from New York City/Jamaica Bay.

VIEWING INSTRUCTIONS:
Click the Sat(ellite), Ter(rain) or Earth buttons on the map for alternate views. The Earth view requires you to have the free Google Earth software on your computer. For a larger map, go to Google Maps or download the KML file to view in your copy of Google Earth.

ABOUT BOB KENNEDY

Dr. Bob Kennedy is a Senior Research Fellow at the Maria Mitchell Association on Nantucket, and a Scientific Advisor to the Harbor Conservancy in New York. He graduated from the College of William & Mary with a BA in 1970 and an MA in 1971, and from Louisiana State University with a Ph.D. in 1977. He has held academic positions at Oklahoma State University, Washington State University, Yale University, University of Cincinnati, Harvard University and University of Massachusetts Boston. He has published over 50 scientific and popular articles on birds, including the definitive A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines published in 2000 by Oxford University Press. He is an Elective Member and Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union. He began his studies of Ospreys in 1970 completing his Master’s Thesis on the Ospreys of Tidewater Virginia, and has continued his research interest in Ospreys particularly over the past 10 years on Nantucket. He has previously satellite tracked two Ospreys from Nantucket with colleague Dr. Rob Bierregaard.